Despite the Nets' Big Three last season, they only achieved the "second + playoff second round" result. However, after the Nets management retained the Big Three lineup in the offseason, last season's performance was not expected, which did not prevent them from becoming the league's biggest title favorite again.
After all, Durant has already proved last season that even if the Achilles tendon is broken, he can play a super performance; and Irving and Harden also have the personal ability of superstars. Such a big three, as long as they remain healthy, with their joint competitiveness, will naturally become the favorite in most people's hearts...
21-22 season: The Big Three are "three missing one", making it difficult for the Nets to play dominance
In fact, as early as last season, Irving had repeatedly missed the game for personal reasons, but because his personal performance reached the level of superstar, and he was compatible with Harden and Durant's playing style, the Nets did not replace him. But no one thought that in the new season, Irving was "banned" after insisting on rejecting vaccines for his own faith, and has been absent from the game so far.
And because the Big Three has been in a state of "three missing one" for a long time, coupled with Harden's "weakening" because of injury + new regulations, the Nets have only 2 wins and 3 losses at the beginning of the new season, and they have not been able to play the dominance of the popular teams that are competing for the championship.
Fortunately, in the later stage, as Durant gradually exerted his strength, he played a "super god" performance many times, which barely led the Nets to 19 wins and 8 losses, and climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference record list...
Without Harden and without Irving, the Pistons, who lost 11 straight, forced out the strongest Grim Reaper?
In the recent Nets vs Pistons game, it was originally thought that this would be a game without any suspense, after all, the Nets are determined to compete for the championship, the record is also ranked first in the East, facing this Pistons that have experienced 11 consecutive losses, it seems that they can easily beat them. Especially after Harden's absence, Durant, led by a "single core", once again played a "super god" performance...
In the Nets vs Pistons game, the Pistons, who lost 11 consecutive games, faced the Nets without Harden and Irving, forcing out the strongest grim reaper - Durant was full of offensive desire throughout the game, with 10 points in the first quarter, 12 points in the second quarter, and 16 points in the third quarter; at the end of the third quarter, he had already scored 38 points, 5 boards and 6 assists.
But even so, the Nets did not play the advantage of crushing the Pistons. Instead, in the second and third quarters, the Pistons played 33-29, 34-26 attacks, which also led to the Nets still trailing the Pistons by five points at the end of the third quarter.
Fortunately, Durant did not drop the chain in the last quarter, contributing 13 points, 2 boards and 3 assists, successfully leading the Nets to reverse the Pistons 116-104. And in the whole game, Durant shot 16 of 31, bombed 51 points, 7 boards and 9 assists, and got the eighth career record of 50+ points per game.
When Durant's "super god" plays a super performance and leads the team to win, it should be worth "blowing up"; but from the current situation of the Nets, even if the "super god" Durant is strong, it is difficult to lead the Nets to successfully win the championship. It can even be said that the more Durant plays "super god", the farther the Nets may be from the championship...
"Super God" Durant can lead the team to win the average team, but can not win the championship team
The reason why the Nets were regarded as the biggest title favorite last season was because the big three were at their peak and had a certain chemical reaction after joining forces. It's just that when Irving and Harden have suffered injuries, even Durant is difficult to lead the team further.
In the first round of the playoffs last season, Durant averaged 32.6 points, 7.4 boards, 3.0 assists per game, 56.2% shooting percentage, and hardened 27.8 points, 7.2 boards, 10.6 assists, 55% shooting percentage + Irving 23.8 points, 6.5 boards, 3.3 assists, 48.9% shooting percentage, easily defeated the opponent with a large score of 4-1, and successfully advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
Originally, even if Harden left the field injured in the second round of G1, but with Irving's assistance, Durant can lead the Nets to take the lead in taking a 2-0 lead when facing the Bucks.
However, in the absence of Irving injury and the poor return of Harden, in the end, even if Durant played a supernatural performance - averaging 35.4 points, 10.7 boards, 5.4 assists per game, 50.9% shooting percentage, but also unable to lead the Nets to defeat the Bucks, leading the Nets to go further in the playoffs...
So why is it that the more Durant plays "super-god", the farther the Nets are from the championship?
Judging from durant's "single-core super god" team results last season, perhaps when facing a team that is not a playoff team or even a championship team, as long as Durant plays a "super god" performance, the Nets can always win the final victory.
But in the face of championship-contending teams, such as the Warriors, Suns, Bucks, Bulls, etc., if only with Durant's "super god", the Nets really have a chance to beat them in the series. Because while Durant played a "super god" performance, the Nets often have these three major problems.
1, Harden, Irving is absent or lost, Durant has to exert force. Harden and Irving joined forces last season and led the Nets to secure the second place in the East; and when the Big Three were on the floor at the same time, even if Durant didn't play well, the team was able to win most of the time. So durant at this time often does not play full force mode...
That is to say, when Durant played a "super god" performance, Harden and Irving were either absent from the game or in poor shape; so in the absence of Irving this season and Harden's "weakening", the Nets had to rely on Durant to break out to barely reach the first throne in the East. Just relying on Durant to break out to win, judging from the experience of the Nets season, it is the next strategy after all.
2. Role players are lost and unable to help Durant. When Harden and Irving are absent or lost, it doesn't really have to be Durant's "super god" to win, as long as the role players can score steadily...
For example, in the recent Nets vs Pistons game, in fact, even if Harden and Irving are absent at the same time, the overall strength of the Nets is above the Pistons who have lost 11 consecutive games. If the team as a whole can play normally, the Nets will not have to rely on Durant to break out if they want to win.
Only in this game, the Nets as a whole except Durant, Mills, Aldridge, thomas, no one scored in double figures. And with the exception of Mills, who shot four three-pointers in a single game, almost no one could pull the space for Durantra, because the Nets' 28 shots and 11 three-pointers in this game, Durant + Mills alone shot 9.
It is also because the teammates can't open the offense and can't provide help for the team to win, otherwise with Durant's super performance in the first three quarters + the strength of the Pistons' 11-game losing streak, it may be that before the end of the third quarter, the Nets will be able to determine the victory.
3. Nash has limited coaching ability, and the Nets have to rely on superstars to win. Mills, Claxton, Aldridge, Brown, Griffin, etc., are all players with certain strengths. It's just that in today's Nets system, they simply can't play the expected strength...
In fact, the main reason lies in Nash's body, since he took over the Nets, he simply does not have the ability to create a suitable offensive and defensive system for the Nets, and his temporary adjustment ability on the court is also very problematic. Even after D'Antoni left, Harden's offensive end was so "crotch-pulling" that it was inseparable from Nash.
It can be said that the nets' second record in the East last season and the first record in the East so far in the new season have little to do with Nash, basically relying on the superstar ability of Harden and Durant to get results.
This also means that in the case of Nash's lack of coaching ability and extreme dependence on superstars, the Nets' role players are really difficult to get a chance to play - usually there is no tactical position, which can not blame them at key moments, key games are not strong enough.
In summary, it is only when the three major problems of "Harden, Irving's absence or loss + role players are lost + Nash's lack of coaching ability" break out at the same time, the Nets have to rely on Durant's "super god" to win. And judging from the series of games that the Nets lost to the Bucks this season, in fact, they lost at that time mainly because of these three problems.
The final result was also Durant's "super god" play, and he barely dragged the series into the seventh. But against a championship-fighting team like the Bucks, even if Durant broke out, the Nets could not win the series. This is also why some people say that the more Durant plays "super god", the farther the Nets may be from the championship; because the more "super god" Durant is, the greater the problem inside the Nets...